We all have probably, at some point in our lives, discovered something moldy and unidentifiable in the back of our refrigerators, or a can of soup that expired three years earlier.  The goal is to not have that happen again.  Food is expensive enough without having to throw it out uneaten.  But sometimes it seems like there is such a jumble of food that it is hard to remember what we have and use it up appropriately.

For food in your refrigerator, Jim has a great idea with his leftover calendar.  He writes the leftovers in his refrigerator on a calendar just for that purpose, and crosses them out as eaten. You can expand this to put meats, vegetables, and any refrigerator item on the calendar as it comes in, and make sure it gets eaten before it spoils.

As for pantry items, I use the concept of a “use it or lose it” shelf.  My pantry is a floor to ceiling closet, and the shelf right at eye level I have designated for things expiring in the next month.  The beginning of the month (so, yesterday), I go through my pantry, and anything expiring in the following month gets tossed onto the use it or lose it shelf. This makes me consciously try to use those items in the next 30 days so that they don’t expire.  Since instituing this, I haven’t had a single thing in my pantry expire.

Make sure you are using your foodstuffs and not throwing them away.  Frugal food purchases are meant to be eaten, it is a part of the whole frugal life cycle. 

Either under or behind your refrigerator, condenser coils lurk. And if yours are like mine, they haven’t been cleaned in a very very long time. And that’s not a good thing. When your condenser coils are dirty, it makes your refrigerator work harder to do the same job.

Therefore, an easy way to reduce your refrigerator’s energy usage is to clean those coils every 6 to 12 months. There are some pretty good instructions here, but you can also search for them yourself. Make sure you unplug your refrigerator first! Cleaning mine for the first time since we bought our house over a year ago was not fun, but it made me feel accomplished by the end of it. And I am pretty sure that the previous owners hadn’t cleaned them in a long long time.

You might not think that cleaning the coils makes much of a difference, but the refrigerator is one of the biggest energy hogs in the typical home. Don’t encourage it to work even harder. Clean those coils.

And if your refrigerator is like mine and made in the dark ages (pre 1990) another way to reduce your energy usage is to replace it altogether. Which is on my list of things we need to do…

This frugal tip provided by paidtwice of I’ve Paid For This Twice Already…

An oft overlooked part of saving money is the power of simply asking for a better deal, or for an unjust situation to be set right. Often we accept what we are told at face value, and if a car repair is quoted at $500 we assume that is what we have to pay. Likewise, if something breaks or stops working long before it seems reasonable, we might just shrug our shoulders and move on.

But don’t. Don’t accept the status quo. Don’t assume that whatever happens or is offered is the best you can get. Negotiation goes a long way. In the past, I have negotiated to get a better interest rate on my credit card, a discount on new tires, and a number of upgrades for our furnace. It doesn’t always work, but it is definitely worth a try. And the more you try it, the easier it gets.

Right now I am working on getting my defective computer monitor replaced as well as my child’s stroller that showed wear too quickly in my opinion. We’ll see how those go, but I am glad that I am trying. So speak up! Be assertive. It can have a bigger effect than you think.

This frugal tip provided by paidtwice of I’ve Paid For This Twice Already…

Coupons are great by themselves, but sometimes just holding on to a coupon and waiting for the right time to use it is even better.  If you pair a coupon with a sale, it makes your dollar go even further. This can be accomplished by keeping track of prices on things you like over time and figuring out the pattern for when it is at its lowest price, but it also can be a combination of patience and checking out the weekly circulars before you shop.

For example, I got a register-printed coupon for Activia yogurt last month that expires in October.  I have been wanting to try it, but I have waited.  And this week, I looked in my Kroger circular, and Activia finally went on sale.  So instead of just getting the value of my coupon, I get the sale price too (and end up paying less than $0.25 out of pocket).

Hurrah!

This frugal tip provided by paidtwice of I’ve Paid For This Twice Already…

Money isn’t the only thing that makes the world go round.  Money, after all, is just a symbol we use to place value upon things we want or need.   Do you have a specialized skill?  How about possessions that could be of value to someone else?  Before taking out your wallet the next time you need something, think about if you could trade for it.

Some things I have bartered for in the past include lessons (I teach taekwondo at my local studio partially in exchange for my own classes), clothing (I have traded baby clothes with other mothers who have a need for the ones my kids have outgrown) and food (in grad school my friends and I would make big batches of food and share amongst each other).

And if you need something and aren’t sure what to trade for it, check Craigslist.  Lots of trading going on there. 

This frugal tip provided by paidtwice of I’ve Paid For This Twice Already…

Those plastic individual water bottles are not only a money waster, but bad for the environment too!  And now there is debate if they are even okay to reuse, because the plastics may leech out over time into the water.

So save yourself the hassle and purchase a reusable water bottle! Even if your tap water is undrinkable in your mind because of an odd taste (ours is), you can still use a reusable water bottle and make your own bottled water. You’ll just have to use some sort of filtering device (we use a Brita water filter).

This frugal tip provided by paidtwice of I’ve Paid For This Twice Already...

It may seem like the drive through is a time saver, but in fact, generally sitting in the drive thru lane with the car idling uses up more gasoline than stopping the car and going inside, and can often be slower than going up to the counter, too! When I use the pharmacy drive thru, I never see people waiting in line inside at the counter (you can see the counter through the window) but there is always a line at the drive thru.

So the next time you see a drive thru anything - think about if the wait is worth it.

However, with my two small kids that have to be moved in and out of carseats… I probably will not be taking my own recommendation for a while yet.

This frugal tip provided by paidtwice of I’ve Paid For This Twice Already…

Today’s frugal tip is a more generalized one that can be adapted to whatever situation that sits in front of you.  Frugality is about more than saving money, it is a way of looking at life.  Spending money in and of itself is not a bad thing, and in fact, it is a necessary thing.  How that money is spent, and what we are saying with the choices we make on how to spend the money, is what creates frugality.

When thinking about how you spend your money, look at what your choices say about what you value.  The choices you make in what to spend more on indicates what you value more.   It is something to keep in mind when thinking about spending a significant amount of money - what are my long term goals?  How does this help or hinder them?  Is this expense in line with what I value?

Having our spending reflect our own unique set of goals, values, and priorities makes all the difference.

This frugal tip provided by paidtwice of I‘ve Paid For This Twice Already…

With back-to-school time starting and summer coming to a close, thoughts turn to school books and pencils and all the other expenses associated with school.  But one that many often don’t give too much consideration to is the method of getting to school.  Sending your child on the bus can not only save you time in transport, but also save you money for the gas it would take to go back and forth.  And, you develop a good habit of seeking out public transit from the very start.

Maybe someday your child will take the subway or bus to work instead of driving, just because of all the fond bus memories.  I know my own little one loves the bus even more than school itself.

This frugal tip provided by paidtwice of I’ve Paid Twice For This Already…

When you get out of the shower or the bathtub, you dry off. And then you may think that towel goes into the laundry - but what did it just do? Dry off a freshly-cleaned body! No need to wash that towel every day. A bath towel used once is usually not dirty. Hang it up (make sure to hang it up!) and use it again tomorrow. And the next day. And even the next day.

Hanging it up is the important part. if you don’t hang it up, it won’t dry properly, and then not only will you be drying off with a damp towel the next day, it will get mildewy-smelling and disgusting to use. So hang up those towels and use them all week!

This frugal tip provided by paidtwice of I’ve Paid For This Twice Already…